August 10, 2006

Teach Yourself to Fly

Have to show you this:

By Mary Thomas, EUP, first printed in 1937, mine is 1942, and I've no doubt that many editions were to follow. Such a handy and interesting little book, incorporating Romanian embroidery (!), the trusty Cretan stitch (?!), and, for the more ambitious Textile Artiste, faggoting. Yep, faggoting, so anyone needing handy tips for doing a nice faggot, let me know, I've got the how-to here.

The most important aspect of this essential little book is, in fact, the flap. Like so many of my how-to books, they are part of a series, none of which I ever seem to be able to locate. This one is AMAZING. With the entire series, you could do just about anything, anything at all.

Teach yourself to fly for only 2/6. I call that Wartime Economy.

Ah, the Good Old Days. Men off fighting the Good Fight. Women being actively encouraged to use their brains and bodies for something other than the pulling of aforementioned men, and housework.

Where they actually got paid for it.

Must have been wild. What strange, dull, thunking sounds their hearts must have made somewhere in their deepest secret insides, as they packed up their skills after the War and went back to the housework. Dunno about you, but I think I would've spent the 50s taking tranquilizers, and trying to forget. But I wax nostalgic.

So, given that the publishers are actively inviting suggestions for other titles, I plan to write immediately and request, for these modern days of multi-skilling,

The Kitchen Guide To Bomb Defusing

Calculating Ballistic Missile Trajectory With Your Menstrual Chart

Feeding the World with Cheese Slices and a Jaffle Iron.

Meditation, Reiki, and Terrorist Abduction.

Organic Muffins and the Malarial Child.

Land Mine Clearing for the Holidays.

Plot the Downfall of Insane Political Leaders with the Perfect Martini.

It's a work in progress. I may have to add to it. All suggestions welcomed and considered.

Comments

Teach Yourself to Fly

Have to show you this:

By Mary Thomas, EUP, first printed in 1937, mine is 1942, and I've no doubt that many editions were to follow. Such a handy and interesting little book, incorporating Romanian embroidery (!), the trusty Cretan stitch (?!), and, for the more ambitious Textile Artiste, faggoting. Yep, faggoting, so anyone needing handy tips for doing a nice faggot, let me know, I've got the how-to here.

The most important aspect of this essential little book is, in fact, the flap. Like so many of my how-to books, they are part of a series, none of which I ever seem to be able to locate. This one is AMAZING. With the entire series, you could do just about anything, anything at all.

Teach yourself to fly for only 2/6. I call that Wartime Economy.

Ah, the Good Old Days. Men off fighting the Good Fight. Women being actively encouraged to use their brains and bodies for something other than the pulling of aforementioned men, and housework.

Where they actually got paid for it.

Must have been wild. What strange, dull, thunking sounds their hearts must have made somewhere in their deepest secret insides, as they packed up their skills after the War and went back to the housework. Dunno about you, but I think I would've spent the 50s taking tranquilizers, and trying to forget. But I wax nostalgic.

So, given that the publishers are actively inviting suggestions for other titles, I plan to write immediately and request, for these modern days of multi-skilling,

The Kitchen Guide To Bomb Defusing

Calculating Ballistic Missile Trajectory With Your Menstrual Chart

Feeding the World with Cheese Slices and a Jaffle Iron.

Meditation, Reiki, and Terrorist Abduction.

Organic Muffins and the Malarial Child.

Land Mine Clearing for the Holidays.

Plot the Downfall of Insane Political Leaders with the Perfect Martini.

It's a work in progress. I may have to add to it. All suggestions welcomed and considered.